| Dragugr | |
|---|---|
 A sea draug as depicted by Theodor Kittelsen | |
|
Other Names |
Draugur, Dreygur, Draug, Dröger, Drög |
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First Appearance |
Norse Myth |
|
Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
The draugr, also called draug, dréag, draugar; draugur, dreygur, or draugen, is an undead creature from Norse mythology. The Old Norse meanings of the word are revenant, undead man, and ghost. Draugar live in their graves, often guarding treasure buried with them in their burial mound. They are reanimated corpses - unlike ghosts, they have a corporeal body with similar, physical abilities as possessed in life. as and folktales of the Nordic countries, with varying ambiguous traits.
In the Icelandic sagas, from which most modern interest is garnered, draugrs live in their graves or royal palaces, often guarding treasure buried in their burial mound. They are revenants, or animated corpses, rather than ghosts, which possess intangible spiritual bodies.
One of the best-known revenants in the sagas is Glámr, who is defeated by the hero in Grettis saga. After Glámr dies on Christmas Eve, "people became aware that Glámr was not resting in peace. He wrought such havoc that some people fainted at the sight of him, while others went out of their minds". After a battle, Grettir eventually gets Glámr on his back. Just before Grettir kills him, Glámr curses Grettir because "Glámr was endowed with more evil force than most other ghosts", and thus he was able to speak and leave Grettir with his curse after his death. (Note that the saga does not actually use the term draugr for Glámr, per above.)
A somewhat ambivalent, alternative view of the draugr is presented by the example of Gunnar Hámundarson in Njáls saga: "It seemed as though the howe was agape, and that Gunnar had turned within the howe to look upwards at the moon. They thought that they saw four lights within the howe, but not a shadow to be seen. Then they saw that Gunnar was merry, with a joyful face."
In the Eyrbyggja saga, a shepherd is assaulted by a blue-black draugr. The shepherd's neck is broken during the ensuing scuffle. The shepherd rises the next night as a draugr.
In Norway, the term draugr instead became associated with ghosts (and thereof) of people lost at sea, sometimes specified as "sea draugr" (Norwegian: havdraug, sjødraug) relative to "land draugr". The sea draugr occurs in legends along the coast of Norway, either at sea or along the beach.
In later folklore, it became common to limit the figure to a ghost of a dead fisherman who had drifted at sea and who was not buried in Christian soil. It was said that he wore a leather jacket or was dressed in oilskin, but had a bundle of seaweed for his head. He sailed in a half-boat with blocked sails (Bø Municipality in Norway has the half-boat in its coat of arms) and announced death for those who saw him or even wanted to pull them down. This trait is common in the northernmost part of Norway, where life and culture was based on fishing more than anywhere else. The reason for this may be that the fishermen often drowned in great numbers, and the stories of restless dead coming in from sea were more common in the north than any other region of the country.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of the Dragugr from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Grettis Saga
- Njáls Saga
- Eyrbyggja Saga
Notes[]
- In modern times, they are often portrayed as Norse supernatural zombies, as depicted in various video games such as Skyrim and God of War, loosely based on the draugr as described in early medieval Icelandic sagas, however, in myth and folklore they comprise several complex ideas which change from story to story, especially in surviving Norwegian folklore, where the draugr remains a staple.
- The Nynorsk translation of The Lord of the Rings used the term for both Nazgûl and the dead men of Dunharrow. Tolkien's barrow-wights bear obvious similarity to, and were inspired by the haugbúi.